Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125809
M I N .... - ell N ,; o Z en 1: w Z W ..J U <:> >U o o by Brian Matthews . But-, with the help of many hacksaw blades, I was almost done. Just remove the axle and the wheel was off. I gave it a pull, then a tug, then a smash or two with a Some f.riends and I were out in the garage looking over my tired scooter, sippin' suds, and Just havmg an all·around good time bench racing. While w·e weTe listening to some "You-should-have-seen-me's" and some "I-would-have-won-it-jf's", my closest friend, Jim reached over to my bike aJid gave the front wheel a spin. With a puzzled look on his face he did it again, but with a good shove. Meanwhile, I was telling everyone how I had saved a Desert Daisy from being swallowed by a gO-foot boa constrictor. Just when I was getting to the good part Jim .slOod up, pointed to my front wheel and said, "Hey", afte.f no answer he said little more ·Ioudly, "HEY!" Not wanted to break up a good story I pretended not to hear him. Not happy with being ignored, Jim walked into the middle of our circle, bent over, looked me straight in the eye and said, "Hey, are you deaf or something?" Getting the feeling he really wanted my attention,I discontinued my story to find out what he wanted. "What do you think you're doing?," I asked rather snobbishlv. "Your front wheel bearings are shot," he explained. With that he walked over to the bike and gave the • front wheel a shove. It made about three revolutions and stopped with a strange grinding noise. As everybody sat there looking at me, I foolishly asked, "What's wrong with you guys?" A t that everyone burst into "Bike-hater" and "Unfeeling monsler" and "Communist." I t really got very emotional, and I started to feel a little guilty. I finally promised I would shape the situation before next weekend; -that made us all feel better. . When everyone finali.y left, I decided to get everylhing ready for the job that lay ahead. I laid newspapers over the bench; which didn't help any because the many g~lons of oil on the bench soaked righ t through. But, in just a matter of hours, the 011 was soaked up and more papers were draped over the_bench with tender loving care. Now I got all the tools I thought I would need: hammer, drift, screwdriver, and some assorted wrenches of unknown origin. Now I was ready, almost. 1 decided to read up on the matter a little just to make the job a tad simpler. Everything was ready. I set my alarm and was in bed by g o'clock. . At 7,30 A.M. the alarm went off and so did I. Not remembering why it was set so e¥ly, 1 was ready to accuse everyone on the block of tampering with my clock. Suddently I remembered why. My anger turned to joy as I threw on myoid, greasy work rags. As I trotted out of the house I couldn'l help thinking that I forgot something. My memory suddenly cam.e to life as I trotted through the rock runner leadil1g to the garage door. Trotting through sharp rocks bare-footed on a cold morning stimulates one's mind tremendously. I filled my lungs with some crisp morning air and was ready to yell the nastiest obscenity I could think of when I also remembered it was 7 :30 A.M. I quickly contained myself and lightfooted.Jy made for the house and my shoes. Now that 1 was pretty much together I was ready to start working. Armed with a six-pack and my tools I dove in. As I started in on the first nut 1 noticed (or didn't notice) the threads past the nu.t. Over the ye.ars rust has filled all the threads to the point where removinl(.the nut was impossible. AMA Announces New Regional Championship Racing Circuit Supplementing its well established Grand National Championship circuit, the American Motorcycle Association is initiating a new program to expapd the motorcycle racing schedule in all sections of the country. The new program will include three regional championship circuits, each consisting of a maximum of 12 regional events and open to riders in all classes. The Atlantic Coast Regional Championship Circuit, the Midwest Regional Championship Circuit and the Pacific Coast Regional Championship events. Points will be awarded the riders as in the Grand National Circuit and all circuits will declare Regional Champions in the Expert, J uniOt and Novice classes. The basic premise behind the expansion is to permit the professional rider who- does not wish to travel the National Circuit to race events and still points toward his regional gain championShip. Also, the regional evenlts more promo ters and will allow spectators to become involved in the .sport. To be applied toward regional championships, a ridei's pOUlts must be accumulated with a minimum of two-thirds acquired in the rider's home region and the remaining third acquired in other regions. Professional sanction m,eetings are currently being held across the nation in order to establish a schedule of the regional even ts for I g 73 . .. . .. , . f • l' f' I •I large hammer, all to no avail. After a half hour or so of this I was pretty well frizzled, so I got out THE HAMMER, which is a nine-pound sledge that I use for more serious tuning. I wound up and smacked the threaded end of the axle which sent it sailing across the garage, thro'lgh the thin. plastered wall and into our swimming pool. Oh well, the wheel was off anyway, with only minor damage to the bike as it spun off the stand and into my parents' car. "Now I just have to remove the seals." I mumbled breathlessly to myself. After examining the hub, I carne to the conclusion that either the factory forgot to put seals in or they had long since rotted away. Anyway, back to the bearings. I got the drift and normal hammer, inserted the drift into the hub and on the lip of the bearing on the down side of the hub. I drew the hammer back, lined it up with the drift, and brought i1 down full force with a dull thud, which of course was not on the drift as planned but the end of my thumb. After about 10 minu tes of choice words and what must have looked like ,an Indian rain dance I got back. down to business. This time I fired up the 01' propane torch and heated the hub fOT about 15 minutes. After much pounding, a few burned fingers, and some more choice words, the bearings were still in as tight as ever. Now I was really mad so I broke out the trusty acetylene torch and gave the hub the full treatment. Finally after much more pounding, more burned fingers, and more descriptive wprds the two bearings were on the bench catching the paper on fire. . After a- bucket of water to subdue the names, I removed the soggy papers and started to concentrate on the bearings. Both of them were seized tight and had been spinning on the axle for who knows how long. Even after cleaning them they wouldn't budge, they looked great, but they didn't move. Finally. I broke down and bought two new bearings from a friend who had· them sitting around but nevel used them. Whe.n I got home I removed them from the package to make sure they were the right size and all that. While I was doing that, I tried to convince myself it was a~worthwhile investment. Not being able to decide jf [ made the right decision or not, I put all the bearings in a neat pile and adjourned for some rest, food, and drink. When I returned, I put two beari..gs in the freezer to make them contract and wenJ....out to heat the hub to make it expand. I finally decided all was ready so I set the bearings on the hub and with loving care, tapped them into their respective holes. 1 made perfectly sure they were in straigh t so no extra bind would be put on them. Proud of myself for a job well done I decided to rest a minute. Still not convinced that buying the bearings was necessary I picked up the two remaining to examine them again. "Hey, what the ... ?" I said to myself faint-heartedly, "This one isn't seized, it feels great...so does this one!" Suddenly I realized what I had done, "Oh no, I couldn't have". I jumped to the hub' to see if I did what I think I did. Confirming my mistake, I let out a cry that could be heard two blocks away. I looked pitifully at the hub and bearings then outside. It was 8:30 P.M. and pitch black outside. I never have found and probably never wij) find a better way to completely blow an entire day.